Thomas Bray

Thomas Bray (1656 or 165815 February 1730) was an English clergyman and abolitionist who helped formally establish the Church of England in Maryland, as well as the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge and Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.

Life

Early life Thomas Bray was born in Marton, then in the parish of Chirbury, Shropshire, at a house today called Bray's Tenement, on Marton Crest, in 1656 or 1658, the year he was baptised on 2 May at Chirbury. Bray's parents, Richard and Mary Bray, were poor farmers. He was educated at Oswestry Grammar School and Oxford University, where he earned a B.A. degree with All Souls College in 1678 and a M.A. with Hart Hall in 1693. He also completed the work for B.D. and D.D. degrees at Oxford (Magdalen, 17 December 1696) at the request of Maryland's governor, but was unable to pay the required fees.

Ministry After graduation and ordination, Bray returned to the Midlands as a curate at Bridgnorth and then became chaplain to the family of Sir Thomas Price in Warwickshire. Price also gave Thomas Bray a position at Lea Marston, where his diligence and library drew the attention of a neighboring vicar, John Kettlewell at Coleshill. Kettlewell pointed out to Bray that the poverty of country parsons kept them from owning and reading theological books, which could lead to ignorance and hopelessness and affect their ministry. Kettlewell also introduced him to Sir Charles Holt and to Lord Digby whose brother made Thomas vicar of Over Whitacre, and in 1690 rector of St Giles' Church, Sheldon. In addition to his parish duties at Shelden, Bray also wrote the first volume of what he intended to be a four-volume set of Catechetical Lectures, and published the first volume, dedicating it to William Lloyd, Bishop of Lichfield. first presented his ideas of a parochial library in every parish in America. The intention behind these libraries was to provide reference for the local clergymen and other literate men. This pamphlet provided instructions on what books to procure, their cost, and how to ensure the books remained in the library.

Bray later published An Essay Towards Promoting all Necessary and Useful Knowledge, Both Divine and Human, in all the Parts of His Majesty’s Dominions, Both at Home and Abroad, in 1697. This pamphlet introduced Bray’s earliest ideas for a classification system and would be referenced by future librarians when establishing a more universal classification system within America. The categories included Church History, General History, Geography and Travel, Theology, Latin Classics, Medicine, and Gardening. This pamphlet was built upon previous publications and a predecessor to Bray’s monumental Bibliotheca Parochialis.

Originally published in 1697, the book received sizeable additions in the revised publication in 1707, which is the most researched edition.

Thomas is remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration and honored with a feast on the Episcopal Church calendar

Family Rev. Bray married firstly, in about 1685, Elenor (surname not known), who died in 1688 having borne a son and daughter, and secondly, on 3 November 1698, Agnes Sayers, of Clerkenwell, London, with whom he had four children who all died young. The Good Fight of Faith Two Select Discourses on Faith, and the Objects Thereof, the Articles of the Apostles Creed. The First on Faith, Shewing the Nature and Difference of that Faith which is Justifying, and of That Which Is Not. The Second, The Practical Believer: Or, the Articles of the Apostles Creed, Drawn Out To Form a True Christian's Heart and Practice.Two Treatises Upon the Covenant of Grace, The First, A Discourse of the Nature, Ends, and Difference of the Two Covenants. The Second Catechetical Lectures Upon the Preliminary Questions and Answers of the Church-Catechism (Four Books in One), 1703, with William Allen and John Kettleworth